Update on bdee

bdee
bdee Member Posts: 304
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Had a PET and CT last week. I don't understand how they can be so different. The PET had six of the seven tumors markedly shrinking. I have mucinous adenocarcinomas in my pelvic area, they think. PET was not positive about this.
A ventral hernia is noted along the anterior abdominal wall and pelvic wall. Mucinous producing carcinomas with ascites considered less likely. A small amount of free fluid persists within the pelvis along with cystic lesions. The CT showed only three of the tumors have grown larger, four have shrunk.
My CEA has gone from 13.4 in June when the new cocktail was started to 7.2 now.

Maybe the PET and CT are close to the same, but the PET showing six tumors shrinking and the CT showing four tumors shrinking I want to know what you all think about which one I should go by.

Thanks,
Debbie in Arkansas

Comments

  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #2
    Normal if they shrunk that much that scan can not even
    see them but still a little of activity that PET can recognize.Anyhow it sound excellent isn't ?
    Best Debbie!
  • bdee
    bdee Member Posts: 304
    #3
    pepebcn said:

    Normal if they shrunk that much that scan can not even
    see them but still a little of activity that PET can recognize.Anyhow it sound excellent isn't ?
    Best Debbie!

    Overall, I'm pleased
    Thanks for kind words, Pepe.
  • Lori-S
    Lori-S Member Posts: 1,277 Member
    #4
    Hi Debbie
    My understanding is that the PET will show how much uptake there is in the tumors ... meaning how active they are while the CT will show location and maybe size (I say maybe because I've had experience with tumors being a different size than they were thought to be by just looking at the CT). So, what the PET is showing is that though the tumor may not have decreased in size it has decreased in activity. Tumors can necrose and become for all intents and purposes "dead" but still show on a CT. This is why the PET and CT are usually used together to get a better total picture of what is going on.

    Congratulations on the significant drop in your CEA!
  • Kathleen808
    Kathleen808 Member Posts: 2,342 Member
    #5
    Debbie
    Debbie,
    Shrinking is good. I don't think we can get exact information from the technology we have right now (CAT and PET). The information is good but I know that there is some variance. Your CEA decreasing is good news. It sounds like things are moving in the right direction.

    Aloha,
    Kathleen
  • bdee
    bdee Member Posts: 304
    #6
    Kathleen808 said:

    Debbie
    Debbie,
    Shrinking is good. I don't think we can get exact information from the technology we have right now (CAT and PET). The information is good but I know that there is some variance. Your CEA decreasing is good news. It sounds like things are moving in the right direction.

    Aloha,
    Kathleen

    Thanks everyone
    All of your comments helped me understand things a lot better. I really appreciate everyone on the board.

    Debbie in Arkansas
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #7
    bdee said:

    Thanks everyone
    All of your comments helped me understand things a lot better. I really appreciate everyone on the board.

    Debbie in Arkansas

    You are welcome dear, we are here just to help!
    Hugs.

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